With a conventional bed frame, there normally are two side rails that are placed in a parallel orientation with respect to each other and one or more cross members that span between the side rails to provide support to the box spring and mattress. The sides of the box spring are supported by a horizontal flange of the side rails and the internal area of the box spring and mattress are supported by the cross members.
With many bed frames, the side rails and cross members are made of a metal, generally steel, and are comprised of steel angle irons. As a recent innovation, the side rails can also be comprised of angle irons joined together to form a T-shaped member or can be constructed and used as single, unitary steel components.
With a typical steel bed frame, the foot ends of the side rails extend beyond any supporting legs such that the foot ends of the side rails extend in cantilever manner outwardly from the foot end of the bed and there is no further component, such as a foot supporting member that provides support for the foot ends of the side rails.
There is currently a trend of not having a foot board at the foot end of the bed. The absence of a footboard not only reduces support at the foot end of the bed but eliminates the pleasing and decorative component that would normally cover and enclose the foot end bedding and give the overall foot end of the completed bed a pleasing appearance.
As such, the foot end of the box spring and mattress are basically unsupported and a weight placed at that end, such as by a person sitting on the very end of a mattress, can create bending and cause damage to the bed frame. This is particularly true of a king size bed frame where there may be two foundations in a side by side relationship and overlaid by a single mattress and, in such instance, there is a decided lack of support at the center of the bed where the two foundations come together.
A system for providing support to the foot end of a box spring and mattress has been shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,665 entitled “Bed Frame With Extended Bumper Assembly”, however, that reference discloses curved ends that joined a side rail and a straight member of a bumper assembly. The manufacture of curved ends, however, is fairly difficult in order to meet the tolerance requirements of joining a side rail and a bumper assembly.
Another difficulty with present bed frames is that there is a certain amount of labor used in securing the frame members together, that is, the metal components are affixed together by hand and often require hand tools to complete the assembly of a bed frame. As such, since the initial set up of a bed frame is normally carried out by a delivery person who may have multiple deliveries on the same day, the amount of time used to complete the set up of the bed frame is important and, obviously, there an advantage in being able to assemble the bed frame quickly and accurately in as little time as possible.
A further difficulty with current bed frames is that the metal structural components have sharp edges and joints and the presence of those sharp edges can cause tearing of the linen, bed spreads or other bed coverings used with the bed.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide metal bed frame where the foot ends of the side rails are connected to a foot member to form an aesthetically pleasing design that visually provides a smooth continuation of the side rails that transition to the foot member as well as provide support to the foot end of a box spring and mattress.
It would be further advantageous to have a bed frame that was easily assembled without the need for tools or specialized skill and which was fully protected by some shields to cover any sharp edges of corners to prevent tearing or damage to the bed coverings.